I was simply shocked to hear the guests at a party becoming so contemptuous about the media. While some thought BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was a media creation, others were blaming newspapers for doing selective reporting. It’s all paid, someone even whispered. I found it quite unfair to put the entire media in the dock. Read more

I remember meeting Rahul Gandhi around mid- 2000 at a guest house in Amethi. It was a one-on-one informal sort of an interaction, which was not to be reported. After a one-hour long meeting, I came out wondering what Rahul Gandhi was actually running for – power or passion – as he had sounded less pragmatic and more philosophical. Read more

Today when every politician is trying to grab primetime on major channels, Mayawati and her lieutenants are maintaining a safe distance. A few who hold the fort for them in debates and discussions are not party functionaries but activists or admirers. Read more

What a paradox! While the Congress leadership, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, are striving hard to build a vote base on the concrete foundation of their much touted welfare projects — food security and land acquisition bills — their party satraps in the poll bound states have no time to pen the party manifesto, though a month odd is left for the polling day. Read more